Mad thinkers, movers, and shakers, as well as neurodivergent and marginalized folks of numerous locations, have shown me that what we think of as pathology exists in relationship—with ourselves, each other, and our environments. Ideas that psychopathology exists in the vacuum of one's isolated experience only serves to silence discourse and marginalize divergent experiences. If nothing else, it reveals a rudimentary comprehension of human development. Because I can't quite come up with the perfect name for such a conglomeration of radical thought, I am calling my holistic model The Mad Triangle until further notice. I particular felt the need to publish a blog post about this, to document much of what I have been presenting lately in group settings, workshops, and dialogue.

Carl Jung coined the term synchronicity to describe “meaningful coincidences,” the coming together of inner and outer events that are not themselves causally connected. For Jung, the meaning attributed to these events—the connection of one’s mind to material reality—is a function of the unconscious psyche, which is inextricably united with the phenomenal world. Jung saw these connections present in dreams, symbols, and universal archetypes across all cultures.

I wrote the following letter to the Shades of Awakening community, which supports folks identifying with spiritual emergency. I particularly wanted to address the language around mental illness and spiritual emergency. Check out their work and continued offerings at shadesofawakening.com.

Let's get a disclaimer out of the way: this piece is not going to feel pleasant for faux Christians who worship flags and Bibles instead of the principles and divinity they represent. This piece is for actual followers of Christ, who recognize in the Life of historical Jesus a potential Love that could save us all. This piece is for those who know a living Christ, within and throughout, and base their lives around coming into closer contact with this infinite grace.

Some people get confused about why this mental health advocate is concerned with anti-racism, when there's so much work to be done for anti-stigma. I don't know for sure, but my general pulse is that people think of my story as a hopeful one of recovery with severe mental illness. There's been serious substance use, body dysmorphia, alcohol poisoning, car crashes, psychosis, mania, depression, narcissistic injury, unrequited love; the list goes on and on. When I tell my story, I try to make a point to mention all the opportunity and good fortune I have been privy to in my life and in this body. Up until recently though, I had been content to let privilege be a background item—important but not critical.